mitt romney today argued that the violence is more than a bump, it's a crisis and said he would have managed it better. steve handelsman is on capitol hill now with more on this. >> reporter: good evening. running for re-election, president obama is trying to reduce the public perception of a middle east crisis. and a u.s.-israeli controversy. president obama headed to new york where critics are assailing his priorities. he'll address the united nations. but make another cpaign appearance on "the view" like this one in may. instead of meeting one on one with world leaders. no meetings scheduled with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who's angered democrats by publicly demanding a tougher obama stance on iran. on "60 minutes," the president seemed to dismiss netanyahu as noise. >> any pressure that i feel is simply to do what's right for the american people. and i am going to block out any noise that's out there. >> reporter: the white house claimed what the president meant was -- >> his objective is to take every step possible to enhance israel's security. >> reporter: mr. ob